Victoria Film Festival set to shine spotlight on British Columbian films

February 5, 2016

Together with film enthusiasts and industry supporters, the Province of British Columbia is pleased to celebrate the 22nd annual Victoria Film Festival, the largest showcase of independent films on Vancouver Island, on from Feb. 5-14, 2016.

The festival will feature screenings of more than 150 films from around the world, and host a variety of great events such as street parties and short film tours, conversations with industry leaders and cocktail and film pairings.

Of special note are hometown premieres of two films by British Columbians, including When Elephants Were Young (written and directed by Victoria’s Patricia Sims), a moving documentary about the relationship between elephants and their guardians in Thailand, and The Devout, a debut full-length feature exploring religious beliefs and reincarnation, by Victoria’s Connor Gaston.

The festival will also celebrate the 25th Anniversary of CineVic Society of Filmmakers, presenting a retrospective showcase of short films made by CineVic's award-winning members over the past quarter-century, from celluloid to videotape to HD to 4K.

B.C.’s dynamic creative sector was recently profiled in the BC Jobs Plan 4-Year update, recognizing it as an industry that shows great potential helping to further diversify B.C.’s economy. The jobs plan was developed in September 2011 to build on the strengths of our province’s most competitive sectors utilizing our educated and skilled workforce to help keep B.C.’s economy diverse, strong and growing. Film and television production in B.C. is booming; last year alone saw 136 tax credit certifications issued under the Film Incentive BC program. In addition, British Columbia saw $2 billion in production spending by film and television producers based on tax credit certification in fiscal 2014-15.

The creative sector represents a remarkable opportunity for British Columbia to succeed on the global stage, and to participate in a rapidly growing knowledge-based industry. The province has a number of advantages, including a talented workforce, world-class infrastructure and competitive tax credits, as well as diverse, spectacular locations.

“B.C. has earned its reputation as one of North America’s busiest centres for screen entertainment production. I applaud the Victoria Film Festival staff and volunteers, as well as the Vancouver Island South Film & Media Commission on 22 years of showcasing the works of talented filmmakers.”

Kathy Kay, director, Victoria Film Festival –

“With the kick-off of another fantastic festival year, we’re proud to screen films from Victoria, British Columbia and around the world. It’s great to screen films from the thriving Vancouver Island film community at the Victoria Film Festival – Vancouver Island’s largest film festival.”

Prem Gill, chief executive officer, Creative BC –

“The Victoria Film Festival provides an important platform to showcase B.C. talent and the vibrant, growing screen-based industry. For audiences in Victoria, and across Vancouver Island, they will have access to critically acclaimed B.C. films. Creative BC is proud to support this festival featuring a wide range of productions including documentaries, features and short films, that are being created by B.C.’s talented filmmakers.”

Quick Facts:

The Victoria Film Festival employs six full-time and six seasonal staff, and receives support from over 200 volunteers. Over 27,000 people attended the festival in 2015.

In 2015, 20 visiting film and television productions spent more than $18 million dollars in Greater Victoria, a record year for the region.

Last year, the motion picture industry in B.C. spent approximately $2 billion on production activity, based on tax credit certifications, supporting an estimated 20,000 direct and indirect jobs.

This represents the highest volume of tax credit certifications for film and television production in B.C. since incentives were first introduced by the provincial government in 1998.